A Guide to Substituting Fresh Herbs

Home , Chervil, Coriander, Lemon balm, Liquorice, Marjoram, Parsley

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A guide to substituting fresh herbs

The Kitchen Garden Foundation doesn’t provide dried herb/fresh herb substitution information because dried herbs are rarely used in our recipes. We see fresh herbs as a kitchen garden fundamental because they are so easy and cheap to grow and the flavour does not compare. Occasionally a dish originating from a particular cuisine requires the flavour of a dried herb, e.g. dried Greek oregano (rigano), in these instances the recipe will specify the dried herb. The following information should always be judged against the availability of what you have and after testing and comparing flavour profiles – this is an important activity for children which will help them develop a deeper understanding of how you put a delicious dish together using what you have in the garden. When substituting, consider: Texture – is the herb soft, spiky, furry, mucilaginous or something else? Flavour and fragrance – is the herb fresh, grassy, floral, citrusy, pungent, piquant or something else? Quantity – how much of the unavailable herb is in the recipe? Smaller quantities are easy to substitute, but where a herb is the main component, e.g. of a sauce, substituting may be more difficult.

Herb Characteristics Possible substitutes basil soft, spicy, sweet, liquorice, clove a mixture of parsley and leaves from the inner stalks of celery bay leaves hard, herbaceous, savoury dried bay leaves chervil fresh, grassy, mild, liquorice flat leaf parsley or a mixture of inner celery leaves and tarragon chives mild onion flavour young spring onion greens coriander (leaf and stem) fresh, bright, green, citrusy, pungent flat leaved parsley and mint or flat leaved parsley and lemon curry leaves (NOT the silvery-leafed savoury, citrusy, spicy Frozen curry leaves – buy or harvest curry plant) fresh and store in a labelled ziplock bag. The 'curry plant' (helichrysum italicum) is not related and cannot be substituted for curry leaf (murraya koenigii). Curry powder is a mix of dried spices and cannot be substituted for curry leaf. dill clean, earthy, fresh, liquorice fennel greens garlic chives mild onion-garlic flavour chives and garlic or young spring onion greens and garlic kaffir lime leaf (alternatively known as hard, citrusy lime or lemon leaves (remove before makrut/Thai lime leaf) serving) lemongrass bright, lemon, herbaceous lemon verbena, lemon balm lemon verbena sweet, lemon, no sour or acidic notes lemon balm, lemongrass marjoram sweet, grassy, lemony notes parsley or oregano and lemon zest mint (common) fuzzy, peppery, cool aftertaste shiso (aka perilla)

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mint (Vietnamese)/basil (Thai) like mint, but with additional peppery mint and shiso, or chervil and anise flavours oregano sweet, spicy, savoury, pungent majoram (common or golden) parsley (flat or curly leafed) curly parsley, is bright, fresh and chervil, celery leaves or coriander grassy; flat leafed parsley also has leaves peppery notes purslane mucilaginous, green, slightly bitter rocket or nasturtium leaves rosemary pungent, piney, spikey Rosemary should be available all year. If not you can use dried rosemary or a mixture combining savory, thyme and sage. sage fuzzy, peppery, savoury, camphor rosemary or thyme tarragon (French) sharp, sweet, liquorice, aromatic In late summer add long spears of tarragon to white wine vinegar and use after a few weeks of infusing. Don’t use Mexican tarragon – it is hardier to cold weather, but lacks the oomph of French tarragon. thyme woody, pungent, spicy, clove oregano, majoram or savory Further information: See the ‘Herb Identification’ activity in the Advanced Kitchen Garden Program Syllabus (Book 2) for a garden class activity that will support your students in learning to make sensory judgements. The following websites are also useful resources: http://www.foodsubs.com/ http://www.cuisitive.com/